Last Christmas Eve, NewsBreak, a free app with roots in China that is the most downloaded news app in the United States, published an alarming piece about a small town shooting. It was headlined "Christmas Day Tragedy Strikes Bridgeton, New Jersey Amid Rising Gun Violence in Small Towns."

The problem was, no such shooting took place.

The Bridgeton police department posted a statement on Facebook on Dec. 27 dismissing the article — produced using AI technology — as "entirely false."